Pan Hong

b. 1954, Shanghai

Actress

Pan Hong is a popular film and television actress who reached the peak of her popularity in the mid 1980s. After graduating from the Shanghai Institute of Performing Arts in 1976, Pan Hong entered the Shanghai Film Studio as an actress before moving to the Emei Film Studio in 1980.

Her early films include Bitter Laughter (Kunaoren de xiao), Du Shiniang and Cold Night (Hanye). She delivered powerhouse performances in At Middle Age (Ren dao zhongnian) and The Well (Jing), which won her Best Actress honours at the 1983 and 1988 Golden Rooster Awards, respectively. An actress of great talent and versatility, Pan Hong is able to handle such diverse parts as the lead role of Empress Wanrong—opposite Jiang Wen’s Puyi—in The Last Empress (Modai huanghou, 1987) and the psychological complexities of a woman tortured by her own untold secrets in Xie Jin’s adaptation of a Bai Xianyong short story, The Last Aristocrats (Zuihou de guizu, 1989), which was also among the first PRC films ever shot entirely on location abroad.

In the 1990s Pan Hong starred in several television mini-series, such as Qianqiu jiaguo meng, and while she remained active in film, turned increasingly towards comedic vehicles. She acted opposite Hong Kong action star Liu Qingyun in the satiric comedy Shanghai Fever (Gu feng, 1993), which offered a new take on the economic boom of the 1990s. Her performance as a woman with a knack for numbers earned Pan Hong dual Best Actress honours at both the Golden Rooster and Hundred Flowers Awards. The success of Shanghai Fever inspired Zhang Min’s hit comedy, Stocks, Oh, Stocks! (Gu a gu, 2002), which also featured Pan Hong in the lead role.

MICHAEL BERRY